The Marquis de Sex

Six months after his nasty breakup with Gucci, the fashion house he built into a cultural juggernaut, Tom Ford has a new book and outlook. But as Michael Hainey discovers, he is still up to his old tricks

In 1994 the Gucci fashion house was like the New York Yankees in the early '70s: a storied organization that had slid into the cellar of irrelevance. The Yankees, of course, were bought by George Steinbrenner, and Gucci turned to its resident wunderkind, a 32-year-old Texas-born designer named Tom Ford, who'd been with the company since 1990. Over the next ten years, Ford (and his business partner, Domenico De Sole) restored swagger and sex to Gucci, using a recipe of...swagger and sex. In the process, the company went from $263 million in revenues during Ford's first year as creative director to $3.2 billion by the time he left last spring after a showdown with management over creative control. Since then, Ford has been relatively silent, letting rumors swirl about his next move: Will he take over another fashion house? Direct movies? Design furniture? Questions remain, although in this interview, which took place at the Hotel Bel-Air last August, Ford came—well, clean....

What has it been like for you since you left Gucci?
It's so sad for me. I went through a really tough sort of depression, which I think is normal. It was fourteen years of my life. And I knew it was coming, too. The last six months were insane—I was trying to have this amazing show and go out in as strong a way as I could. Now I think I will take a few weeks off—but not really, because I'm going to be working. I just feel like I need a little space.
[The waitress comes to take the drink order.] I shouldn't while I'm being interviewed.

I shouldn't while I'm interviewing.
I am usually quite a lush. I love drinking. But I stopped drinking for vanity reasons. I put on some pounds, and I'm getting a little puffy. Gotta lose the ten pounds I gained.

You should have a drink.
You're the Devil. I'll have a drink.

Did you drink a lot after you left Gucci?
I drank through the whole thing. Maybe I was a bad boss. I think I was a good boss. Five o'clock every day, man, it was cocktail hour. And those cocktails came out, trays of vodka tonics, and the whole staff would keep drinking till like nine, and we'd do that every day, every day. Because in a creative profession, sometimes loosening up is the best idea. Seriously.

Did you need to see a shrink after Gucci and losing your job?
I've never seen one. And I would love to. I may do that. I was always traveling so much and never had the time. The last few years, I intended to—because I needed to, because so much was going on.

My suspicion is you're surrounded by people by who always want to tell you what you want to hear.
Not at all. I wish! [laughs] God. Richard Buckley [Ford's companion of eighteen years]—I wish he'd tell me what I want to hear!

I think the fashion world in general is a little joyless.
It's like high school, too, by the way.

Could we talk about sex?
Yes, please. You go for it.

You brought sex into the mainstream.
Maybe. It's funny, I think people make more of sex and my sexuality and my views on sex than I do. I'm kind of just myself. Meaning that I've always been quite cool about sex, and comfortable talking about sex, and comfortable having sex, and comfortable with my sexuality. And comfortable with kind of anything anybody wants to do. And that's a big part of it. I think sex is one of the nice things in life. I don't know why everybody makes a big deal about it. I find violence much more offensive than sex.

How old were you when you lost your virginity?
I was 14.

What was her name?
Bari.

What do you remember?
Her tits. We were sitting in my grandmother's house on this mountain in Santa Fe, and she unbuttoned her shirt and they just spilled out. [laughs] I was 14, she was 15. But she'd been having sex since she was 13. So she just decided she was going to sleep with me, and she liked me, and that was that.

And how old were you when you first slept with a guy?
I'd just turned 18. His name's Ian Falconer. You might know him. He writes children's books.

The guy who writes the Olivia the Pig books?
Yeah. We're still best friends. Have you ever slept with a guy?

No.
Every man should be fucked at some point in his life. You shouldn't force yourself to do it. But it's really not that different than having a massage.

I'm too repressed.
That's silly. Everyone should try it. It doesn't feel that much different. It's skin. You should do it with someone you like. Do it with a friend who you think is great. It's very easy. It's normal. You've never kissed a guy?

Only on the cheek.... People must throw themselves at you all the time.
No one throws themselves at me, ever. People are either afraid of me or know that I'm married.

You're saying no one ever propositions you or grabs your thigh?
Maybe it's just that no one I particularly like does. I can't go to bars. I mean, I couldn't go out to a homo club even if I wanted to. The fact is, I've become more and more a sex symbol, but it's like it's been less and less sex.

Where does the image of Tom Ford separate from the reality of Tom Ford? Is what I see what I get?You don't believe me?